...not Potato!
However, it's time to reveal the winner of my NaBloPoMo midway contest! Brief review of the rules:
1. The winner must have correctly identified the subject of this photograph:
2. The person who most completely and accurately identified the subject of this photograph in comments at or before midnight at the International Date Line on Monday, November 20, 2006 (otherwise known as 7:00 a.m. today here in Massachusetts) is supposed to be the winner.
3. In the event of a tie, I have sworn to write the name of each entrant on a tiny piece of paper, throw all the pieces of paper into a bowl, mix them up, and draw one at random.
4. In the event that no one has correctly identified the subject of this photograph, I have sworn to choose the answer which most amuses me.
Here are the entries:
from Melissa :
Is it a pumpkin plant thingy? Daffodils?
Or...is it the FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER? Oh, yes, I think so.
from Bethieee:
I'm pretty sure it's a pair of bulbs, but why on earth did those spiders decide to turn themselves into bulbs right before beginning their mating dance?
from Nicole (who did not leave a web address, just e-mail):
I believe they're rhizomes of some sort - possibly iris.
from Heidi:
Hmmm... I'm gonna say asparagus crowns, baby asparagus crowns.
and from Heidi again:
Okay, since you've recently been planting bulbs, I'll say Hyacinths. ;)
So, who got it right? Well, in point of fact, no one got it completely. Whether anyone answered with any accuracy whatsoever hinges on this question:
Tuber, rhizome, or bulb?
According to The Gardener's Dictionary of Horticultural Terms, by Harold Bagust (1992, Cassell Publishers Limited, London):
Bulb
A food storage organ consisting usually (but not always) of an underground type of bud with a short thick stem and tightly packed, fleshy scales. Corms, tubers and rhizomes are often erroneously described as bulbs. [There is a very nice illustration showing the scales on a bulb vs. an entirely unscaly corm.]
***
Corm [just to be perfectly clear]
The swollen, solid, usually subterranean base of a stem, without scales, e.g. gladiolus and crocus. Tiny corms which are produced around the base of the corm are known as cormels or cormlets.
***
Rhizome
Normally a horizontal creeping stem lying on or under the ground from which shoots will arise and roots descend; a type of rootstock. The bearded iris is an example of an underground rhizome.
***
Tuber
The usually underground storage organ of certain plants such as potato and dahlia, from which fresh growth will develop in due course.
On review, perhaps it wasn't necessary for me to share all that information with you. But it's cool, right?
So now I shall reveal the answer to our contest question.
[drumroll, of course]
The plant pictured above -- and yes, it is a plant, a pair of plants, actually, so if you guessed some kind of plant matter, give yourself one point -- the plants pictured above are...
...[end drumroll; insert trumpet flourish]...
...two dormant Eremerus Bungei, also apparently known as Eremurus Stenophyllus, commonly named Foxtail Lilies or Desert Candles.
No one gave any of these names in her answer, regrettably. But a few people gave answers that were at least partially correct. So to determine the winner, I am left with a process of elimination.
Eremerus Bungei is a plant, but it is not a pumpkin or asparagus plant. If you guessed pumpkin or asparagus, please deduct one point from your total.
According to the University of Michigan, the Eremerus Bungei is a hardy bulb. According to FlowerBulbInfo.com's Spring Bulb Guide, the Eremerus Bungei is a bulbous plant with tuberous roots. Therefore, if you included the word "bulb" or "tuber" in your answer, give yourself a point. If you guessed "rhizome," however, please deduct one point from your total.
The Eremerus Bungei is a bulb, but it is not a daffodil, hyacinth, or iris bulb. If you guessed daffodil, hyacinth, or iris (which is sometimes a rhizome and sometimes a bulb, incidentally, depending on the species), please deduct one point from your total.
Not everyone attempted to amuse me, but two people did, and since nobody got it completely, specifically right, I think they deserve extra credit. Melissa and Bethieee, please give yourselves an extra point each.
And now it should be clear who the winner is.
The winner, with three clean points and no deductions, is...
...[drumroll again; last one, I promise]
...Bethieee! Bethieee correctly guessed plant matter of some sort (1 point), specifically a "pair of bulbs" (one point) and made an effort to amuse the contest-thrower and other readers (one point). For her completely correct if incomplete guess and consideration of the hostess and other guests, Bethieee will receive a small, beautiful, and unique prize.
But not until June.
But I'll tell you what it is now.
As you can see from the photo on this link, the Eremerus Bungei is a plant which blooms rather spectacularly. Its blossom stem is full of tiny wonderful details and brilliant colors of the very sort that colored pencil artists particularly enjoy rendering. I planted four of these puppies altogether this fall, and I hope like heck that at least one of them blooms. If and when that happens, you, Bethieee, will receive one small, original painting by me, in colored pencil, on some sort of nice acid-free stock, of the blooming plant in situ!
See? That will be nice, won't it?
My plants should bloom in May through June, giving me plenty of opportunity to capture them pictorially. If they fail to bloom, I will paint you something else blooming in my garden around the same time. I have many other lovely flowering plants that bloom right about that time, so you won't go empty-walled.
My ulterior motive in all this? Why what could you possibly mean? Okay, I know when I'm busted. And to be perfectly open and honest about it, I had two.
First, at least there will be one other person in this world eagerly awaiting my garden blooming this spring. My true love thinks flowers are pretty but doesn't really care about what's going to come up when, and couldn't tell you which was what anyway, so the idea of company while I wait for at least one of them, company that even knows the name of it and what it's supposed to look like, will be nice (for me).
The other ulterior motive? Well, if you read my last post, you can probably guess. This here is a dare, a dare to myself to get my ass outside and painting, at least once the weather warms up if not before. By entering this contest and winning it, Bethieee, you are helping me push myself, and I am grateful. So you get some of the results.
Thank you, everyone, for playing this little game. If you didn't win, well, better luck next time. And I am such a chicken that there will probably have to be a next time of one sort or another, so keep your eyes peeled.
__________
* The name of this post is the result of me misremembering the name of the most excellent game "Vegetable, Vegetable or Vegetable" on the most excellent Ouch! Podcast, recently returned to BBC production by worldwide popular demand. Make what jokes you will.
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